Vietnam has swung into emergency mode, shutting airports, closing schools, and evacuating thousands ahead of this year’s strongest storm: Typhoon Kajiki.
The typhoon was packing winds of up to 166 kph (103 mph) as it approached Vietnam’s central coast and was forecast to grow stronger before making landfall on Monday afternoon, the country’s weather agency said.
‘Extremely Dangerous’
“This is an extremely dangerous fast-moving storm,” the government said in a statement Sunday night, warning that Kajiki would bring heavy rains, flooding and landslides.
As of 0000 GMT, the storm was located 150 km off Vietnam’s central coast, according to the weather agency. The eye of the storm is expected to make landfall between Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces around 0900 GMT.
As powerful As Typhoon Yagi
With a long coastline facing the South China Sea, Vietnam is prone to storms that are often deadly and trigger dangerous flooding and mudslides.
The Vietnamese government said Kajiki was expected to be as powerful as Typhoon Yagi, which battered the country less than a year ago, killing about 300 people and causing $3.3 billion of property damage.
Authorities said on Sunday that more than half a million people would be evacuated and ordered boats to stay ashore.
Cancellations Of Flights
Two airports in Thanh Hoa and Quang Binh provinces have been shut down, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet have cancelled dozens of flights to and from the area.
Kajiki skirted the southern coast of China’s Hainan Island on Sunday as it moved toward Vietnam, forcing Sanya City on the island to close businesses and public transport.
China On Alert
China’s Sanya, renowned for seafront resorts and sandy beaches, closed tourist attractions, shuttered businesses and suspended public transport.
China’s weather agency forecast heavy rainfall and strong winds in Hainan and nearby Guangdong province and Guangxi region, with areas in Hainan set to receive as much as 320 mm (12.6 inches) of rain from Sunday to Monday.
Sanya issued a red typhoon alert on Sunday morning – the highest in China’s colour-coded warning system – and raised its emergency response to the most severe level, according to posts on the local government’s WeChat account.
(With inputs from Reuters)
